VIRGIN AUSTRALIA'S BRING ON WONDERFUL GETS AN ENCORE

A little under two years ago, Virgin Australia launched a new campaign to Bring On Wonderful, that tried to convince people that "having a good flight" was not acceptable anymore, but rather it would be "a wonderful flight" on one of its aircraft. Looking back, it is hard to find anything wonderful about Australia's domestic airlines since then, whose passengers have all suffered at various times with delays, cancelations and customer service lapses.

Virgin Australia has added some firsts

That's not to say that all is bad down under because there are new Boeing 737 MAX 8s to enjoy, and service has picked up to a reasonable, if not wonderful, level. Virgin Australia has followed Bonza by introducing the Boeing Max 8s, and those new-generation aircraft have been a breath of fresh air after decades of 737-800s, and the Brisbane-based carrier has also introduced other product and service enhancements.

First Reveal: Virgin Australia Showcases New Boeing 737 MAX 8

To a packed house, Virgin Australia rolled out its new 737 MAX 8, revealing the brand-new cabin experience awaiting passengers.

Today, Virgin Australia said it had delivered the second installation of its uplifting brand platform, "reflecting a continued commitment to delivering wonderful experiences for all guests, from booking to landing." The encore is themed around Virgin Australia (VA) team members going above and beyond for their guests like a viral video of a Perth baggage handler filmed talking to a dog before loading it into the cargo hold for a flight or a cabin crew member who comforted an infant while continuing in-flight service.

This second edition keeps the focus on VA team members but offers a fresh perspective from the eyes of a young traveler. In a storyline experienced by many families, it tells the story of a family heading on holiday with their "typically reluctant" teenage daughter, who sees the VA ground crew break into a dance routine on the tarmac and inject some Wonderful into the start of the family holiday.

Are we there yet?

Beyond the nice video, VA has significantly invested in customer innovations over the last 12 months that form part of the Bring On Wonderful experience. The full-service carrier has launched an Australian airline's first baggage tracking app, Apple Pay and the Rapid Rebook digital platform, which is a fully integrated self-service management tool. Unsurprisingly, VA announced last month that it would be the first airline in Australia to operate flights with pets onboard, with none of its competitors yet rushing to emulate the new offering.

VA Chief Marketing Officer Libby Minogue said VA is thrilled to launch the second phase of the Bring On Wonderful platform that's featuring the people who are at the heart of the Virgin Australia experience.

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Simple Flying readers with good memories will recall that when the first Bring On Wonderful campaign was launched in October 2023, VA also introduced its Middle Seat Lottery, which gave anyone sitting in the middle a free shot at some terrific prizes, including a Virgin Voyages Caribbean cruise and free flights for two to Miami to join the ship.

The encore campaign starts today and will run for six weeks on all forms of national media, so perhaps today's announcement is just a teaser, and something special might yet emerge over the coming weeks. Coincidentally, this is the week that the official government on time and cancelation performance report for March will be released so for VAs sake we can only hope they had a good month, otherwise shooting for Wonderful may sound a little hollow.